Mercedes chief disappointed: 'We'll get a second chance on Saturday'

Mercedes struggled in qualifying: both Red Bulls and both Ferraris managed to finish ahead of their German rivals. The former champion team even managed to get only one of the two cars into Q3. At no point could Mercedes really challenge the other teams for pole position.

"The sprint format really rewards you if you land the starting setup in the right place," Shovlin analysed. "We've been battling a few issues with ride and balance today that have made it difficult for the drivers. Lewis put together a solid lap in the final session to secure P5 for the Grand Prix. George unfortunately was the wrong side of a very tight bunch and didn't quite make the cut for Q3."

Shovlin looks forward to Saturday

The weekend in Baku will be the first to try out the new sprint race format. Because the sprint race now no longer determines the starting grid of the Grand Prix, theoretically drivers would be more encouraged to take risks during the sprint and thus increase tension. The sprint race will therefore have its own qualifying session, known as the 'shoot-out'.

"We're looking forward to the challenge of the new format tomorrow," Shovlin said of the new plans. "We get another go at Qualifying tomorrow morning, which sets the grid for the F1 Sprint, so we will work out how we can improve for that. The sprint should also be interesting as so far, we have seen almost no long run data from the teams so it will be interesting to gauge where we sit on race pace."